A frequent injury to active people, especially athletes, involves a tear in the miniscal cartilage of the knee, especially when the leg is twisted. Such a tear is normally repaired through accepted surgical procedures where the damaged tissue is either removed or the torn edges sewn together.
For younger patients or those where the tear is small, it is often desirable to sew the tissue together and provide it with an opportunity to heal. An accepted procedure for performing this operation includes forming an incision and suturing the torn cartilage for holding it together. Typically, the suture is held in place in cartilage tissue on one side of the tear by a knot that is tied at one end or an anchor. The torn edges of the tissue are then sewn together, with the suture being tied off or secured by a button or other type of holding device located outside the joint capsule.
There are disadvantages to these procedures. First, when the suture is tied off, the surgeon must make two puncture wounds for each suture and take extra time to manipulate the suture in an awkward location and take care in making sure the tear is held together by the suture. When a suture is held by a securing device, a portion of the suture projects out of the incision while the torn cartilage is healing. Such securing devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,976,075; 4,291,698 and 3,664,345. Further, in order to remove the suture in either case, a second incision must be made, which tends to increase the risk for infection and prolongs the healing of the injury.
While the use of biodegradable sutures that are absorbable when they come in contact with moisture in the human body are known (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,208,511; 4,429,080 and 4,452,973) none is known to have been adapted for repairing torn tissue without the need for tying the suture for holding it in place in the damaged tissue or using a securing device outside the capsule.